As previously reported, transcripts for epithelial stem cells, proliferation, or epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition–related processes — including Lgr5 (leucine-rich repeat-containing G-protein coupled receptor), Smoc2 (SPARC-related modular calcium binding 2), Vim (Vimentin), Ccnd1 (Cyclin D1), and Pdk4 (pyruvate dehydrogenase kinase 4) (34–40) — were increased in tumor tissue when compared with normal tissue (Figure 4A). This evidence concerns the gene SMOC2 and neoplasm.